Category: Standard

Many people choose not to have their boilers and other appliances serviced at regular intervals or even at all in some cases; which really is a risky thing to do.Appliances that should have an annual service are boilers, fires and even unvented hot water cylinders as it is important these are checked for safety reasons.

It is recommended by manufacturers to have your appliances serviced annually and in some cases not doing so can invalidate your guarantee; but there are a few good reasons for doing so.

First and most importantly, an annual service checks the function of your appliance and involves inspecting for any leaks or failing components which could put the safety and maybe even the lives of the people residing in the property at stake.

For example, if there was to be an insufficiently sealed flue coming off a boiler or fire or perhaps even a casing section isn’t quite sealing right then there is a high chance that carbon monoxide may be entering living spaces and could potentially be very harmful or even fatal to those affected.Carbon monoxide is not visible to the human eye and is completely odourless and tasteless; this makes it dangerous as you may not even realise its presence in your home.

On a brighter note; an annual service can improve the efficiency of your boiler which in turn helps your money go a bit further in the battle against rising energy bills and will also help to prolong the life of the appliance.

This is especially an issue for oil boilers, as an incorrectly burning oil boiler will produce soot that will cover the surface of the boilers heat exchanger; greatly reducing heat transfer and dramatically increasing running costs.

Another point to consider with an annual service is it may be possible for an engineer to identify a component that is starting to deteriorate.

This presents the opportunity to deal with the issue before it develops and presents you with a large bill to rectify the faults; even a tiny leak on a water component could splash onto electrics or make its way to the boiler circuit board which comes at a hefty price to replace.

The list can go on; but ultimately the point is an annual service can impact the safety and running costs of an appliance for the better.

If you would like more information or would wish to arrange a service please fill out an enquiry form in the contact us section or give us a call.

You may be aware that domestic heating oil theft has been on the rise in recent months; with increasing prices across our common heating fuels, theft is becoming more and more commonplace.

Domestic oil tanks are a relatively easy target as homeowners prefer to keep them out of sight as its more aesthetically pleasing; creating a problem where you can’t keep watch of the tank and with just a screw cap for a lid they are easily accessible.

We have many customers in areas such as Alderley Edge, Wilmslow, Prestbury, Woodford and surrounding regions who rely on heating oil for their homes and this could become an increasing problem for people in these towns.

We would urge people to consider getting some form of security in place to avoid becoming a victim to this crime and; as always, we are here for you to offer advice on various locking mechanisms and tank alarms that combine a digital sight gauge with an audible alarm that sounds off in your home if an oil theft is taking place.

The sight of a locking mechanism could be a huge deterrent to a thief and may be the difference between keeping your oil or having it taken away from you. Comment below and let us know your thoughts.

I’m sure you are all aware of the harsh weather conditions the whole country has endured over the past few years.As well as affecting drivers, schools and anybody else that leaves their home it has also impacted on households; with the biggest problems been frozen and burst pipes and the dreaded ‘frozen condense’ situation.

Anybody with a condensing boiler installed in their home could be at risk from this if the condense pipe is routed externally; this creates a massive issue as when the condense pipe freezes the boiler can cease to operate, this means the house can not be heated and leaves pipes open to the risk of freezing and bursting.

There are measures that can be taken to reduce or even eliminate the risk of this problem occurring; pipe lagging can be fitted which may help to reduce the risk, re-routing the condense pipe internally if possible or fitting a trace heating system to your existing condense pipe could eliminate the risk altogether.

We would also recommend pipe lagging to be fitted on all water pipes that run in garages, lofts or other areas that will be subject to the colder temperatures.

If you have encountered these problems in the past or wish to prepare as best as you can before the freeze grips hold, feel free to contact us for free advice or to have these measures implemented in your home.